The applicant’s position is that the relevant public will understand “GE” (or its logo) as meaning “General Electric”/ “General Electric Company”. The evidence showing use of “General Electric Company” or “General Electric” in the UK prior to 1 October 2021 is as follows:- The website print from 2016 about the applicant’s Rugby plant says that in 1967 AEI was acquired by “the General Electric Company (GEC)” and that in 2011 “General Electric acquires Converteam to become GE’s Power Conversion business”. “General Electric Company” also appears in the copyright notice;- In the print about the Hamble facility, which can be no later than 2014, GE Aviation is described as an “operating unit of General Electric Company”;- An article about GE Energy Management in Northern Ireland shows a 2021 copyright notice for “General Electric Company”. The print is undated, save for a 2022 copyright date;prints from www.gehealthcare.co.uk, which include a 2022 copyright notice for GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY and a 2022 printing date but which are otherwise not dated; [footnote 15]the 2021 annual report includes a section headed “ABOUT GENERAL ELECTRIC”, which continues, “General Electric Company (General Electric, GE or the Company)” (p. 13); there are some further references to “General Electric Company” in the report (e.g. I order General Electric Company to pay GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY LTD the sum of £1,600 within 21 days of the expiry of the appeal period, or within 21 days of the final determination of this case if any appeal against this decision is unsuccessful.

Source: Forbes August 03, 2023 06:03 UTC